Game = Life

robin_d_laws  continues to be brilliant in this entry on Risk in RPGs.

What's clarified for me here is something I find very frustrating in play, but never found a definition to fit it. 

Years ago (in the late 1980's) I started advocating for a play-style I called "cinematically correct".  If it would look good on film, it was good. 

If I was playing, I'd seek out mechanics that would let me crash through the skylight and land on my feet, or at least have something really interesting happen if I failed.  If I was running, I'd flat out tell players that if they could persuade me something would look good on film, and frame it like a shot, I'd do my best to help them find a way to make it happen in the game.  Or at least have something really interesting happen if they failed.

Go read it.  Robin Laws is Brilliant.

In other news, halfway through the month all I've done on Toccata and Fur in A Minor is develop a map of the neighborhood and begin drafting personalities for sample cats.  I do have an outline of the events, but it needs fleshed out big time.

I read a lot of gaming blogs and listen to a number of gaming podcasts - I'm on a constant quest to improve my skills as a GM and my enjoyment as a player.  I get a lot of good ideas from the indie gamers at The Forge; things that I may not agree with, but that make me think and examine my own assumptions.

Today's gem is Resolution Lag from RPG Blog. Wow. This essay completely nails my biggest dissatisfaction with just about every game system I've ever tried. I'm an immersive roleplayer, even as a GM, and it always seems to me that things slow to a crawl when combat (or conflict) begins. It's my primary complaint about DnD 3.5 (and D20) - the d20 "whiff" factor.  I miss you, you miss me, I miss you, attacks of opportunity, a gazillion modifiers to keep in mind... combat takes forever.  I'm bored and ready to move on long before the fight is over. 

I like my games fast and cinematic, and yet am unwilling to decide everything by GM fiat.  There is a place for randomness in my GMing/playing world; I just don't want it to stall the game's momentum.

I have yet to find a system that's frictionless enough for me, though Eden's Cinematic Unisystem comes closest.